Sat.’s Devo - The Birth of Samuel

Read: 1 Samuel 1:1-2:21; John 5:1-23; Psalm 105:37-45; Proverbs 14:28-29 It seemed that most of the patriarchs came from women who were barren and then God touched them and they had children. Samuel was no different. His father was Elkanah who had two wives. Peninnah had many children and taunted Hannah who had none. Every year they traveled to Shiloh to offer sacrifices. Elkanah would give Peninnah a larger portion to offer since she would be given some of it back, cooked to feed her children. Hannah would be given a smaller portion since all she had to feed was herself. The priest in charge was Eli who had two evil sons - Hopni and Phnehas. They would take the best meat for themselves and take it before the meat had boiled so the fat was still on it. The fat was the portion that was to be given to the Lord. They wanted the fat still on it because they were going to bar-b-que theirs. In this way they showed disrespect and contempt for the Lord. One year, while they were there. Peninnah had taunted Hannah to tears and she prayed to the Lord at the altar. She prayed for a son and promised to give him to the Lord and never cut his hair. Eli saw her mouth moving and no words and thought she was drunk. He rebuked her until he found out she was praying and very distraught. Then he turned his rebuke into a blessing. She went home happy and fulfilled. She soon had a son and brought him to Eli when he was weaned. Every year she brought him a coat she had made. Every year Eli would bless them with more children. Hannah did have three more sons and two daughters. In John, it is a feast day. (Most believe it is Passover.) Jesus was in Jerusalem for it and people were everywhere. Jesus went down to the pool of Bethesda where he found a crippled man. He had been lying there for 38 years waiting for the water to stir so he could step in and be healed. He had no one to put him there and he was crippled so it was absolutely hopeless situation for him. Jesus came and offered him healing and he walked. He took his mat because Jesus told him to. The Pharisees saw him carrying his mat on the Sabbath and questioned him. He told them that the man who healed him told him to carry it. They wanted to know who did this but he didn’t even know. Jesus found him in the crowd later and told him not to go back into sin or something worse might happen to him. Apparently his crippled state had been the result of being in the wrong place, doing the wrong thing. He went and told the Pharisees who it was who healed him and they came to Jesus with their accusations. Jesus told him that he and his father worked on the Sabbath as they did every day. He was just doing what he saw his Father doing and his Father had given him the power to judge man. If they wanted to honor the Father then they must honor the son. This went over like a lead balloon. Everything Jesus said was truth. He didn’t care how it was received; he was speaking it to them then and to us now. It is the Word of Life. Lord thank you for your boldness and your lack of fear of man. May we follow in your footsteps. Thank you, Lord that your blessing follow those who believe. Thank you that when we cry out to you, you hear us.

Fri.’s Devo - The Kinsman Redeemer

Read: Ruth 2:1-4:22; John 4:43-54; Psalm 105:16-36; Proverbs 14:26-27 Everyone loves the story of Ruth because it is the Cinderella story of the Bible. Today we see the pauper become the queen. Naomi and Ruth had come to Bethlehem at the time of the barley and the wheat harvest. It was customary for the poor to walk behind the reapers and pick up what they dropped. Ruth went to do this so she and Naomi could have food. She just happened to reap in Boaz’s field. Boaz was the son of Salmon whose wife was Rahab. Rahab had been the prostitute who hid the spies when they came into Jericho (Matthew 1:4). So his mother had been a Canaanite who chose to leave her people and become a Jew. Boaz saw his mother in Ruth and greatly admired her for giving up her people and her culture to take care of her mother-in-law and become an Israelite. He noticed her right away. I would think that her nationality made her look different from the Hebrews. He made sure his men didn’t tease her or abuse her in any way and Boaz spoke to her directly. He told her to continue in his fields and he would make sure she was protected. He even told her to reap along with his women and told them she would be doing that so there would be no problems. He also offered her their food and water. Ruth was amazed at his kindness and the favor she was getting. When she told Naomi everything Boaz had said to her, Naomi got on her match-making hat. She told Ruth exactly what to do to let him know she was available and interested in him as her husband. Since he was related to Naomi he would qualify as a kinsman redeemer. When Boaz saw her intention, he was thrilled. He had already found out who was next in line to redeem her and went to the city gate to transact with him. He told the man that he was next in line to redeem Elimelech’s property if he wanted to buy it. He did. Then Boaz told him that he would be obligated to marry Ruth, the Moabite and have children in the name of her husband. He was not willing to do that. Boaz gladly bought the land and redeemed Ruth as his bride. They married and had a son and named him Obed which means “serving”. He became the grandfather of King David. Naomi had a baby boy to love and care for to help the pain of losing her own husband and sons. Ruth got to experience the love of God and the love of a husband and the joy of a son. In John, Jesus was on his way back to Cana where he had turned the water to wine. This was near his hometown where they had a hard time believing he was anyone but Mary’s son. There was a government official who lived near Cana who’s son was very sick. He heard that Jesus was on his way so he went to meet him to beg him to heal his son. Jesus saw this man’s heart and said, “will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?” I wonder if this man hadn’t told himself that if Jesus would heal his son, he would believe in him or if he was saying that to the people who were just wanting to see something spectacular. Jesus didn’t do anything spectacular. He just told the man to go home and his son would be healed. The man did believe and went home. On his way he received news that his son was healed the very hour Jesus proclaimed it. This was the second miracle that Jesus did in Galilee. He had done many miracles in Jerusalem but these two miracles were specific. Both the turning water to wine and healing this man’s son were miracles where Jesus didn’t do anything but speak. He told the men to fill the pitchers with water and he told the man his son would be healed. Jesus did nothing physical and wasn’t even in the vicinity for the son. Lord, thank you for showing us the power of the spoken word. When it is Your word it is filled with power and it reaps results. Thank you for being our kinsman redeemer.

Thur.’s Devo - Ruth and the Woman at the Well

Read: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:4-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Provers 14:25 The tribe of Benjamin had been reduced to 600 men who had fled to the rock at Rimmon. The leaders of the other tribes had vowed a curse on anyone who gave their wives to anyone from the tribe of Benjamin which meant that Benjamin would become extinct. The other tribal leaders met at Bethel and cried out to the Lord for Benjamin. They offered sacrifices to God and asked for wisdom. They asked around to see if anyone of the towns had not come to their mandatory meeting and they found that no one from Jabesh-gilead had attended the assembly. They sent warriors to kill everyone except the virgin women. They found 400 virgins to be wives of the Benjamites. They still needed 200 so they remembered a festival in Shiloh every year. The virgins of the town would dance a special dance. They told the remaining Benjamites to hide in the bushes and when they performed the dance, they were to go in and steal a bride. Since they wouldn’t be giving them as wives, they would be free of the curse. This satisfied their problem. “Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” A famine came upon the land of Israel. Elimelech lived with his wife Naomi in the town of Bethlehem. The famine was so severe that they left to go to Moab to live till the famine was over. They had two sons, Malon and Kilion. Elimelech died in Moab and his two sons married Moabite wives: Orpah and Ruth. Naomi heard that the famine was over and God was blessing Israel once again. She wanted to go back to Bethlehem. Naomi’s two daughter-in-laws started out with her but she stopped them and told them to return to their own homes. She was too old to marry and they would have a better chance at marriage if they stayed in Moab. They both cried but Orpah returned to her family. Ruth insisted on going with Naomi and becoming an Israelite. When they got to Bethlehem everyone was glad to see Naomi but sad to hear she had lost her husband and sons. It was the beginning of the barley harvest so it was right after Passover and almost Pentecost. In John, Jesus came alone to Jacob’s well. He sat there tired and thirsty waiting for the Samaritan woman to come to the well to draw water. She was his assignment for the day. When she arrived, Jesus asked her for a drink. She was amazed that he would speak to her since she was a much hated Samaritan and he was a Jew. She asked him why she would want a drink from her. He told her that if she knew who he was and what God had for her, she would be asking him for a drink. He would give her living water. She asked how he would do this since he had no rope or bucket. How could he offer better water than from Jacob’s well? Jesus explained that when she drank from this well, she would soon be thirsty again. The water he was offering was a fresh, bubbling spring from with in and would give her eternal live. She would never thirst again. She wanted this water so Jesus told her to go and get her husband. She didn’t have one. Jesus knew this. He knew that five men had married her and divorced her or put her away. She came from a line of rejection and the man she was with now didn’t even care to marry her. Jesus perceived this and told her. She realized she was speaking to a prophet so she asked him a religious question about where the proper place to worship was. Jews said Jerusalem and Samaritans said Mt. Gerizim. Jesus explained that the time was coming when it wouldn’t matter where you were when you worshipped God. What was important was if you knew God in spirit and in truth. She said she knew that when the Messiah came, he would explain everything to them. Jesus told her that he was the Messiah. At that moment, the disciples returned. She ran into town telling everyone about the man who told her everything about herself. Could this be the Messiah? The disciples tried to get Jesus to eat but he had just been refreshed by doing God’s will in talking to the woman. He was filled. The harvest of souls was ripe and he was harvesting the crops. Many of the Samaritans came to hear Jesus because of what the woman at the well had told them. They became believers themselves. Lord, may our sustenance be to do your will. Fill us with your Holy Spirit.

Wed.’s Devo - The Evil of Gibeah

Read: Judges 19:1-20:48; John 3:22-4:3; Psalm 104:24-35; Provers 14:22-24 This story is one of my least favorite stories in the Bible. It is all upside down and shows the depravity of man’s sins. It proved what life was like when everyone does what is right in their own eyes. It begins with the statement: “Now in those days Israel had no king.” This was so true. God was suppose to be their king but they used him as a military officer who they called upon when they needed help fighting an enemy. They didn’t seem to involve God in their every day life. Women were property who got no respect. Our story is about a man from Ephraim who brought home a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. She became angry at him and ran back home. He went to get her and ended up staying for a while feasting with her father. Finally, he took his concubine and left. They needed to stop for the night but wanted to make sure they stayed in a town in Israel so they traveled to get to Gibeah which was in the territory of Benjamin. They sat in the town square hoping someone would invite them to stay with them but no one did. That evening, and old man who was also from Ephraim met them and invited them to stay with him. He told them it was not safe to stay in the square at night. While they were enjoying his hospitality, evil men from the town beat on his door and demanded give them the man who had come to stay with him so they could have sex with him. Instead, he threw out his concubine. They raped her to death that night and in the morning her husband found her outside the door. He put her body on his donkey and went home. At home, he cut her body into twelve pieces and sent them to each of the tribes of Israel. He called them to fight the town of Gibeah. Everything was wrong about this. He lied and told the tribes that his life was threatened and that they forced his concubine. All of this is half truths. He should have been tried for murder himself. He killed his concubine by not protecting her. Then he defiled her body by cutting it up into pieces. His dramatic appeal stirred up 400,000 armed warriors from all over Israel. They came against Gibeah and lost 26,000 the first day and 18,000 the next. Everyday they cried out to the Lord for help and guidance. God told them to attack every day and on the third time he told them they would win. On the third day, they attacked then ran, driving them out of the city. Another group came into the city from behind and ambushed them. They killed 25,100 of the Benjamite’s strongest warriors and destroyed and killed all in the town. About 600 men escaped to the rock of Rimmon where they lived for four months. The Israelites burned down many towns around Gibeah all belonging to Benjamin. In John, John was approached by one of his disciples who had noticed that people were leaving John’s ministry and going to Jesus to get baptized and hear his teachings. John told the man he was not jealous because he was like the friend of the bridegroom who was thrilled to listen to the vows. Jesus is the bridegroom and he was the one John was pointing everyone to. Jesus was the only one who came down to heaven from God as his son. John told the man that everyone should listen to Jesus; He speaks the words of God. Lord, may we be as humble as John who was not interested in worldly position or fame. May we lift your name high and boast of your power and love.

Tues.’s Devo - Micah and Nicodemus

Read: Judges 17:1-18:31; John 3:1-21; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 14:20-21 In the times of the judges, men did what was right in their own eyes, not what was right in God’s eyes. Both our Old and New Testament scriptures begin with “there was a man named…” In Judges the man’s name was Micah. He confessed to his mother that she had stolen 1,100 pieces of silver from her and gave it back when he heard the curse she had put upon the one who stole it. It doesn’t tell us what the curse was but I think it came to pass. Micah’s mother was elated he gave her back her money and used 200 pieces of silver and had an idol cast from it. Micah made a sacred ephod and added some household idols and installed one of his own sons as priest. A young Levite came through their town looking for a place to serve and Micah offered him 10 pieces of silver and a change of clothes and food to stay and become his priest. The Levite agreed. This all happened in the land of Ephraim. The clan of Dan had never taken their land and were looking for a place to settle. They sent out five spies who came to Micah’s house. They saw who peaceful and secure they were and how Micah had his own priest. There were several towns like the one Micah lived in. The spies took back the report of the land and decided to attack and take from their brothers what they had instead of fighting the “ites” of the land and taking their land. They sent 600 armed men and began taking their towns. When they arrived a Micah’s house, they offered the priest to come and be the priest over their whole tribe. He agreed and they took all of Micah’s worship paraphernalia. When Micah opposed, they threatened him and his family. He had no power over them so they took all he had. They burnt down the town and renamed it Dan after their ancestor. They set up the carved image and Jonathan son of Gershom, son of Moses presided over them as priest until the Exile. They worshipped this idol instead of God. In John, there was a man named Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee who came to Jesus after dark and called him “Rabbi”. He SAID he knew God had sent him to teach them about God. Jesus told him that to see the Kingdom of God he had to be born again. Nicodemus had no idea how that could happen. Jesus explained that he was talking about a spiritual rebirth, not a natural one. He rebuked Nicodemus for not being able to see these things. He explained that just like the bronze serpent was lifted up in the wilderness, he would be lifted up. (He was speaking of the cross.) He continued that anyone who believed in him would be saved. God sent him into the world to save it not condemn it. This was the opposite of the priest’ message which was one of judgement and condemnation. Jesus pointed out that there were some who loved darkness more than light because they don’t want their sins exposed. This could not have fit the Pharisees better. We don’t know what happened to Nicodemus but the next time we hear of him was at the Feast of Tabernacles when Jesus stood up and said, “Come to me all who are thirsty…he that believers on me,…out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water” John 7:37-38. In verse 50 of the same chapter, Nicodemus was mentioned as “being one of them”. I’m not sure who “them” was but after Jesus died, he showed up with 100 pounds of spices to help Joseph prepare his body for burial. (John 19:39). Everything Nicodemus did was in the night. Jesus had told him that Those who do what is right come to the light so others can see what they are doing what God wants. Nicodemus didn’t want his colleges to know what he was doing though it was right. This was probably because he feared man and feared the loss of his position and reputation. Lord, may we find our identity in You and not in ourselves. May we chose what is right in your eyes instead of what is right in ours.

Mon.’s Devo - Samson’s Finest Hour

Read: Judges 15:1-16:31; John 2:1-25; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 14:17-19 Samson got over his anger of what the Philistines did to him at his wedding party and went to sleep with his wife. When he found out she had married someone else, Samson took it out on the Philistines. He caught 300 foxes, tied their tails in pairs and lit their tails with fire and set them free in the wheat fields of the Philistines. It destroyed their grain harvest. He also destroyed their vineyards and olive groves. By doing this he was cutting off their food supply. When the Philistines found out who did it and why, they went and burned down the woman’s house with her family in it. Samson found out and promised revenge. He went and lived in a cave in the rock of Etam. It was a huge cleft in the land owned by Simeon. Simeon is surrounded by Judah’s land so the Philistines set up camp in Judah in wait for him. The men of Judah sent 3,000 men to get Samson and turn him over to the Philistines so they would leave their land. Samson allowed them to tie up his hands and take him to the Philistines. When they arrived at the Philistine camp and he heard their cries of victory, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him. He snapped the ropes off his hands and found a jawbone of a donkey that had been recently killed. With the jawbone, he killed 1,000 Philistines. After his victory, Samson was extremely thirsty and cried out to the Lord. God caused water to gush out of a hollow in the ground. Samson became their judge for 20 years. During that time he went to Gaza to spend the night with a prostitute. The people of Gaza found out he was there and locked the gates to keep him till the next day when they planned to capture him. He got up and midnight and left with their gate on his shoulder. He took it to the top of a hill and set it down there. Later he fell in love with Delilah, a Philistine prostitute. Since she would do anything for money, the Philistines bribed her with silver to find out the source of Samson’s strength. She tried three times and did what Samson said and each time it failed. She nagged Samson repeatedly until finally told her, if she cut his hair he would lose his strength. She put him to sleep and had the barber come in and cut his hair. When he awoke and the Philistines were there to take him, he found he had no strength. They bound him and poked out his eyes. Then he was put in prison where he was bound in chains and forced to grind grain. While he was in prison, his hair began to grow back. The Philistines had a festival to honor their god, Dagon. They brought out Samson to make fun of him. Blind Samson asked the guard to place his hands upon the lintels of the door and he did. Then Samson prayed that God would give him strength one more time to avenge the loss of his two eyes. God did and he pushed the pillars until the whole building collapsed killing more Philistines than he had during his entire lifetime. His relatives came and took Samson’s body back to his hometown and buried him with his father. In John, Jesus and his family were invited to a wedding in Cana. They ran out of wine in the middle of the week celebration. This was a huge embarrassment to the family so Mary went to Jesus to fix it. Jesus had not publicly shown his power but I’m sure he had done miracles at home, maybe even turned water to wine. Jesus was not sure he wanted to come out publicly but Mary knew this was the time. (Mother’s always know. Lol!) Reluctantly, but respectfully, Jesus told the servants to take the six huge jars used for purification and fill them with water. Then he told them to take some in a cup to the host of the party and give it to him. When he tasted the wine, he went to the groom and told him that most people served the best wine first, then when the people were drunk, he brought out the cheapest, but he had saved the best wine till last. Jesus was the best wine saved for that time in history. Everything God does gets better. We are bracing in anticipation of his greatest acts of power. When the time of Passover came, Jesus and his disciples went to Jerusalem. He saw the money changers and fashioned a whip from some ropes. He chased them out of the Temple and drove their sheep and cattle out also. He turned over their tables and told them to stop turning his Father’s house into a marketplace. The Jewish leaders were furious and asked who gave him the authority to do this. If it was God, then they wanted some miraculous sign to prove it. Jesus told them the sign would be the Temple. If they destroyed this Temple, he would raise it up in three days. They were dumbfounded by this statement. It took 46 years to build it so, of course they weren’t going to destroy it and how would he build it back in 3 days if they did. We know that he was referring to his body, but they had no idea. Jesus loved to keep them guessing. Jesus did do many miraculous signs at Passover and many did believe him, but Jesus knew the heart of man that he was easily deceived. He knew the heart of everyone which is how he knew to answer each one according to what was in their hearts. Lord, may our hearts be pure so that you can share your secrets with us. Rid us of selfishness and pride; we need you more than ever.

Sun.’s Devo - Samson

Read: Judges 13:1-14:20; John 1:29-51; Pslam 1-2:1-28; Proverbs 14:15-16 Israel went back into idolatry so God turned them over to the Philistines for 40 years. They oppressed them until they cried out to the Lord. The angel of the Lord visited the wife of Manoah from the tribe of Dan and told her that though she was barren, she would become pregnant and have a son. The boy would be dedicated to God as a Nazarite from birth and she was never to cut his hair. She was not to drink wine or any other alcohol or eat anything forbidden by the law. She told her husband and he prayed to the Lord that the angel would come back and tell them more about how to raise this son. God did come back and he told him the same thing he had told his wife. They made a sacrifice and the angel went up in the smoke of the burnt offering. Manoah and his wife were afraid they would die since they had seen the Lord but their words from him gave them peace that they would live to raise this promised child. When he was born, they named him Samson meaning “little sun”. Manoah means “rest” and God was sending Samson to bring rest from their oppression of the Philistines. One day as Samson was visiting Timnah a city of the Philistines, he saw a woman he fell instantly in love with and wanted to marry her. He went home and told his parents. They were upset that he would want to marry a heathen instead of someone from his own tribe but God was using this against the Philistines. His parents met the parents of the girl and set up the wedding arrangements. During the week long marriage party, Samson presented a riddle to his 30 Philistine groomsmen. He had killed a lion with his own hands one day on his way to visit his girlfriend and when he passed by it again, he noticed that bees had built a nest and produced honey. He scooped some up and ate it and took some to his parents but never told them where it came from. From this he proposed his riddle: “Out of the one who eats came something to eat: out of the strongwomen came something sweet.” Every day of the party the bride badgered Samson to tell her the answer. Her groomsmen told her that if she didn’t tell them the answer they would burn down her father’s house with her in it. If they did’t guess it they each had to give Samson a set of festive clothing. Finally on the seventh day, Samson told his bride and she quickly told her groomsmen. They answered his riddle and Samson knew they had gotten it from his bride. Samson went down to Ashkelon and killed thirty Philistines and brought back their clothing for the groomsmen. He left the party and went home without his bride. Her father thought the wedding was off between her and Samson and to keep from being humiliated, he gave his daughter to the best man to marry. In John, John saw Jesus from afar and pointed him out to his disciples calling Jesus, the Lamb of God. Little did they realize he would be God’s lamb he would bring to Passover to sacrifice. John didn’t know Jesus was the one until he baptized him and saw the Spirit ascend upon him like a dove. God had told John that when he saw this happen he would know this was the Messiah. John baptized with water but Jesus would baptize in the Holy Spirit. Andrew had been John’s disciple, but when he heard John say that Jesus was the Lamb of God, he started following Jesus. Andrew went home and told his brother Simon that he had found the Messiah. The next day Andrew took Simon to meet Jesus and Jesus told Simon that his name would now be ‘Peter.’ The next day, Jesus chose Phillip to be his disciple and Phillip went home and told his brother, Nathaniel that he had met the Messiah - he was from Nazareth. Nathaniel exclaimed, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Phillip told him to come see for himself. Nathaniel would have known that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem but when he met Jesus and Jesus exposed his heart as being blameless and pure and mentioned that he saw him under the fig tree, he was convinced. Nathaniel probably went to pray under the fig tree so this would have been something no one knew but him. Nathaniel was so convinced that he proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of God and the King of Kings. Jesus remarked that if he was turned at something so small, wait until he saw the great things he was going to do. He would see heaven open up and angels going up and down on the stairway between heaven and earth because he was the stairway. Thank you, Jesus for being our mediator between heaven and earth. Thank you for coming to earth to live amongst us so you can pray for us better.